In the communications industry, the use of fiber optic cables for carrying transmission signals is rapidly growing. To interconnect fiber optic equipment, fiber distribution frames and racks have been developed. Such frames and racks are typically located in a communications closet, data room, or the like, where technicians can easily connect and reconnect, or “patch,” equipment in an organized and efficient manner. These frames and racks are also used in data centers. Examples of fiber distribution frames and racks are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,497,444 and 5,758,003, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
With the increase in use of fiber optic cables in the telecommunications industry, it is desirable to provide fiber distribution frames/racks with increased density. “Density” refers to the number of locations, or ports, per unit volume or unit area for providing connections within the rack; thus, increased density can provide more connection/patching sites per rack. Many racks are configured to include multiple shelves or trays of a specific size (a standard height of 1.75 inches is known in the industry as a “U”); the size of a rack may be described in terms of “U” (e.g., a “6 U” rack), and the shelves and trays may be described by the number of connections per “U” (e.g., 48 connections/U).
The space constraints associated with high-density distribution frames can cause cable and cord management problems. Effective cable/cord management can prevent excessive bending of fiber optic cables/cords within the frames. Effective cable/cord management may also reduce tangling of cables and cords, and may provide improved accessibility to components that may require servicing. Easily-understood labeling can also improve operator efficiency and accuracy. However, increased density can hamper desirable cable management practices.
One example of a device with a cable management issue is illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. A director 20 includes a plurality of cards 22 with duplex LC terminations (FIG. 1). The terminations 22 receive duplex LC connectors 24 from an arrayed fiber optic cable 26 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The twelve individual fibers 28 that serve the connectors 24 are broken out from the cable 26 at a transition 30, which is typically a sleeve that fits around the cable 26. If the cards 22 are 96 LC fiber cards, eight different fanouts would be needed to fully populate each card 22; for a typical eight-card director, 64 fan-outs would be present. Locating all of those fan-outs in an organized manner can be challenging. Proposed solutions include a cable trough 32, as shown in FIG. 4, and planar arrays of cable management fingers 40, as shown in FIG. 4A.